Brendan Ryan (Labour)

In the spirit of this House I withdraw it unequivocally because that is the way I have always done my business in this House.

Senator Brian Hayes raised the matter of the parents of Irish-born children. As he said there are 11,000 such children. The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform does not know how many parents of children in the State, who are citizens by birth, are illegally here. It does not know and, apparently, it does not want to find out. Will the Department of Health and Children led by the Tánaiste, which has a responsibility for all children in the State, ascertain how many children who are citizens of the State have been deported with their parents and how many are facing deportation? Furthermore, if we deport children who are Irish citizens, what are the legal implications and what obligations will arise in the future when they return as adults, as they will almost certainly do?

This issue cries out for a humane response because of the human suffering involved. It also cries out for common sense because we are building up problems for the future. It is necessary that we quantify how many children are involved and ascertain what the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform proposes to do about them. How many children who are Irish citizens have already been made to leave because of the deportation of their parents? In addition, how many children who are Irish citizens have been left behind by their deported parents and what are we doing about them?